Hide-working cylinder.



Patented Dec. 4, |900.

N. LEIDGEN. HIDE WORKING CYLINDER.

A ///1\I I O NICOLAUS LEIDGEN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDWARD H. MUNKWITZ, OF SAME PLACE.

HIDE-WORKING CYLINDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 663,097, dated December 4, 1900.

Application tiled December 23,1899. Serial No. 7414415. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern/ Be it known vthat I, NIooLAUs LEIDGEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hide-Working Oylinders, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompany-- ing drawings, forming a part thereof.

My invention relates particularly to the construction of that class of devices known in tanneries as unhairing,. 'setting, or putting-out cylinders. Its main objects are to facilitate the removal of hair from hides and to perform other operations thereon without cutting or injuring the hides and generally to improve the construction and operation of hide-Working cylinders.

It consists in certain novel features of construction,and particularlyin the arrangement of the blades, as hereinafter specifically described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings like letters designate the same parts in the several iigures.

Figure 1 is an elevation of a part of a hideworking cylinder embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same.` Fig. 3 is a detail end view on an enlarged scale, showing the construction and arrangement of the spreading and scraping blades with relation to each other and with relation to the cylinder-body; and Figs. 4 and 5 are crosssections, on a still larger scale, of a spreadingblade and of a scraping-blade, respectively, showing their relative arrangement and position with respect toa hide on which they of the length of the cylinder to or nearly to the ends thereof. These blades may be secured at their inner edges in spiral grooves formed in the cylinder-body or may be attached thereto in any suitable manner. They are preferably set or arranged perpendicular to the surface of the cylinder and are made continuous or unbroken from points at or near the longitudinal centerof the cylinder to or nearly to the ends thereof.

D D are scraping or unhairing blades. They are arranged lengthwise of the cylinder between the spreading-blades O C, clearance spaces e e being left between their ends and the sides of adjacent spreading-blades. Thej,7 are inclined rearwardly from the cylinder A toward their outer working edges with relation to the direction of rotation, as indicated by the arrows on Figs. 2, 3, and 5, to prevent their sharp edges from cutting or inj uring the hides. They are preferably inclined lengthwise slightly in the same direction as the adjacent spreading-blades C, so as to prevent those portions of the hides on which they operate from wrinkling, folding, or creasing between adjacent spreading-blades and from being cut, torn, or injured by the action of said scraping-blades. These scraping or unhairing blades may, like thespreading-blades, be secured at their inner edges in slightly-inclined longitudinal grooves formed in the cylinder-body A, or they may be attached thereto in any other suitable Way.

The scraping-blades D at the middle of the cylinder between the inner ends of the reversely-bent spreading-blades O may be set straight or parallel with the axis of the cylinder or may be bent slightly at the center and slightly inclined therefrom in opposite directions corresponding with the inclination of the adjacent spreading-blades, as shown in Fig. l. As shown in the drawings, each Ahalf of the cylinder is provided with five sets or rows of spreading-blades and ten sets or rows of scraping-blades; but the number,

size, and construction of the blades may be varied without materially affecting the operation of the cylinder and without, departing from the spirit and intended scope of my invention.

The spreading and the scraping blades are IOO each preferably constructed of two strips c and d, of metal of different degrees of hardness, rolled or otherwise attached to each other face to face. In the spreading-blades the strip d of softer metal is placed in front of the strip c of 'harder metal, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, so as to form rounded or dull edges on the advancing sides of the blades and cause them to operate with a rubbing action, by which the hides are spread and smoothed out for the operation of the scraping-blades, while in the scraping or unhairing blades the arrangement is reversed, the harder metal being placed on the front side and the softer metal on the back side of the blade, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, so as to preserve sharp edges on the advancing sides of the blades and cause them to operate with a scraping action, by which hair and foreign matter are removed from the hides. This construction makes the blades self-sharpening as well as efficient and durable, the softer metal wearing away and leaving the harder metal, which forms a sharp edge on the rear side of the spreading-blades C and on the front side of the scraping-blades D. The rearward inclination of the scraping-blades causes them to operate in a manner like or similar to that of the usual unhairing knives or Scrapers in the hands of skilled operators and prevents them from cutting, breaking, or injuring the hides. The outer working edges of all the blades with which the cylinder is provided are turned or ground concentric with the axis on which the cylinder rotates and, if necessary, may be trued from time to time in the same Way. The cylinder being rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows on Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 and a hide spread upon a bolster, table, or other suitable support being held with sufficient pressure and moved along against it, the blades C C will operate to spread the hide from the center toward its edges, and at the same time the scraping-blades D will remove the hair, dirt, or other foreign matter therefrom, the spreading-blades holding the hide between them flat or smooth for the operation of the'scraping-blades, the longitudinal inclination of which also tends to stretch or cylinder at a low rate of speed as compared,

with the speed at which unhairing-cylinders as heretofore constructed have been required to be run to make them do effective work- While my improved cylinder is primarily designed for removing the hair from hides, it may be used advantageously for other operations thereon, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting my invention to any specific casper operation in the manufacture of leather from hides.

In the construction of the blades the strips c may be made of steel and the strips d of iron.

It will be observed on reference to Figs. 4 and 5, in connection with Fig. 3, that the spreading-blades C have quite road bearing-faces on their working edges, while the scraping-blades D are brought to sharp edges on their front sides, the hard-metal strips c resisting wear and tending to preserve not only the sharp edges on the front sides of the scraping-blades D, but also the proper relation of the working edges of both sets of blades to each other and io the hides on which they operate. While the spreading-blades C will incidentally operate to remove some hair and dirt, they are constructed and arranged primarily to spread and smooth the hides for the operation of the scraping-blades D and will not under ordinary conditions remove all the hair. The action of the scraping-blades is too harsh for the operation of spreading and smoothing, and if they were used alone without the spreading-blades, which are specially ,constructed and arranged for that purpose,

they would cut and injure the surface of the hides, particularly when they were folded, wrinkled, puckered, or uneven.

I claim- 1. A hide-working cylinder provided with heli-cal spreading-blades winding in opposite directions from about the middle to or toward its ends, and with rearwardly-inclined scraping-blades arranged lengthwise of the cylinder between said spreading-blades, spaces being left between the ends of said scrapingblades and the spreading-blades, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

. 2. A hide-working cylinder provided with helical spreading-blades winding in opposite directions from about the middle toward the ends of the cylinder,and with scraping-blades arranged between the spreading-blades, and slightly inclined lengthwise in the samedirection as the adjacent spreading-blades, said scraping-blades beinginclined rearwardly toward their working edges and spaces being left between their ends and the sides of the adjacent spreading-blades, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. A hide-working cylinder provided with helical spreading-blades winding in opposite directions from about the middle of the cylinder toward its ends, andv with rearwardlyinclined scraping-blades arranged lengthwise of the cylinder between said spreading-blades and composed of metals of dierent degrees of hardness, the harder metal Abeing on the front side, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

L4. A hide-working cylinder provided with helical spreading-blades winding continuously in opposite directions from about the middle of the cylinder toward its ends and arranged perpendicular to the surface of the cylinder-body, and with scraping-blades ar- IOO ranged lengthwise of said cylinder between said spreading-blades which are composed of metals of different degrees of hardness, the softer metal being placed on the front side of said blades, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. A hide-Working cylinder provided with helical spreading-blades Winding in opposite directions from about the middle of the cylinder toward its ends, and With rearwardlyinclined scraping-blades arranged lengthwise of the cylinder between said spreadingblades, both sets of blades being composed of metals of different degrees of hardness, the harder metal being placed on the front side of the scraping-blades and on the back side of the 

